snow leopard or ounce Endangered species ( Uncia uncia) of noc¬ turnal long-haired cat that inhabits the high mountains of Central Asia and India. It is about 6 ft (1.8 m) long, including the 3-ft (1-m) tail, stands about 2 ft (0.5 m) tall, and weighs 60-120 lb (27-55 kg). Its dense, soft coat, consisting of an insulating undercoat and outer coat of 2-in. (5-cm) hairs, is pale grayish with dark rosettes and a dark streak along the spine. The whitish fur of the underparts may be 4 in. (10 cm) long. It preys on marmots, wild sheep and goats, birds, and other animals. It is hunted principally for the market in goods used in Asian traditional medicine.
snowberry Any of about 18 species of low shrubs that belong to the genus Symphoricarpos of the honey¬ suckle family. All are native to North America, except for one species in central China. All have bell-shaped, pinkish or white flowers and snow- white berries. The best-known orna¬ mental species are S. albus, a shrub 3 ft (1 m) high, with delicate stems, oval leaves, and large, pulpy, white berries, and S. rivularis, slightly larger, with elliptical leaves and a profusion of berries. Creeping snow- berry is a plant of the genus Gault- heria (HEATH FAMILY).
snowboarding Sport of sliding downhill over snow on a snowboard, a wide ski ridden in a surfing posi¬ tion. Derived from surfing and influenced also by skateboarding as well as skiing, snowboarding began to burgeon among young people in the U.S. in the mid-1980s. The first Olympic snowboarding competition was held in the 1998 Winter Games. The two main events are giant slalom (similar to Alpine giant slalom) and halfpipe, in which riders use a large, snow-covered trench (halfpipe) to repeatedly launch themselves into the air and perform various acrobatic feats.
Snowden (of Ickornshaw), Philip Snowden, Viscount (b.
July 18, 1864, Ickornshaw, Yorkshire, Eng.—d. May 15, 1937, Tilford, Surrey) British politician. From 1893 he was a lecturer and writer for the socialist Independent Labour Party (ILP), then became its leader (1903- 06). In the House of Commons (1906-18, 1922-31), he excelled in debates on social and economic questions. He served as chancellor of the Exchequer in James Ramsay MacDonald’s governments (1924, 1929-31) and in 1931 secured Britain’s abandonment of the gold standard.
Snowdonia National Park Park, northern Wales. Established in 1951, it has an area of 838 sq mi (2,171 sq km). It is best known for its mountains, composed largely of volcanic rock and cut by valleys that show the influence of Ice Age glaciers. Mount Snowdon, 3,560 ft (1,085 m) high, is the highest peak in England and Wales.
snowdrop Any of about 12 spe¬ cies and many variations of white- flowered, spring-blooming, bulbous Eurasian plants that make up the genus Galanthus of the amaryllis fam¬ ily. Several species, including com¬ mon snowdrop (G. nivalis ) and giant snowdrop (G. elwesii ), are cultivated as ornamentals for their nodding, sometimes fragrant flowers. They are among the earliest garden flowers to blossom in the spring. Similarly named but very different, the snow¬ drop tree, or silver bells (Halesia Carolina, family Styracaceae), is a tall tree with clustered, bell-shaped
Snowberry (Symphoricarpos rivularis)
SVEN SAMEUUS
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
snowshoe hare ► Social Democratic Party of Germany I 1775
flowers that grows in the southern U.S. The snowdrop bush ( Styrax offi¬ cinalis) of eastern Europe and Asia Minor, also unrelated, grows to about 18 ft (6 m).
snowshoe hare or snowshoe rabbit or varying hare North¬ ern North American species {Lepus americanus) of hare that undergoes an annual colour change from brownish or grayish in summer to pure white in winter. The hind feet are heavily furred, and all four feet are large in proportion to body size, a snowshoe-like adaptation that enables the hare to travel over snow.
snowy egret White New World egret ( Egretta thula\ family Ardeidae). It is about 24 in. (60 cm) long and has filmy recurved plumes on the back and head. Formerly hunted for its plumes, it ranges from the U.S. to Chile and Argentina.
snowy owl White or barred brown-and-white typical owl ( Nyctea scan- diaca, family Strigidae) of the Arctic tundra, sometimes found in Europe,
Asia, and North America. Snowy owls are about 2 ft (60 cm) long and have broad wings and a round head without ear tufts. They are diurnal and eat small mammals, such as hares and lemmings, and birds. They nest on the ground in the open.
Snyder, Gary (Sherman) (b.
May 8, 1930, San Francisco, Calif.,
U.S.) U.S. poet. Snyder worked as a forest ranger, logger, and seaman and studied Zen Buddhism in Japan (1958-66). His poetry, early identi¬ fied with the Beat movement, is rooted in ancient, natural, and mythic expe¬ rience. It initially contained images drawn from his outdoor work in the Pacific Northwest and later reflected his interest in Eastern philosophies.
His volumes include Turtle Island (1974, Pulitzer Prize) and Mountains and Rivers Without End (1996). From the late 1960s he has been an important spokesman for communal living and ecological activism.
Soane, Sir John (b. Sept. 10, 1753, Goring, Oxfordshire, Eng.—d. Jan. 20, 1837, London) British architect. He was appointed architect to the Bank of England in 1788. Various government appointments followed, and in 1806 he succeeded his mentor, George Dance (1741-1837), as professor of architecture at the Royal Academy. His work is characterized by a tendency to reduce Classical elements to their structural essentials, to use linear instead of modeled ornamentation, to favour shallow domes and top lighting, and to handle interior spaces in an ingenious manner.
soap Any of a group of organic compounds that are salts of fatty acids, usually stearic acid (with 18 carbon atoms) or palmitic acid (with 16 car¬ bon atoms). The source may be any vegetable oil or animal fat. Soaps are emulsifying agents commonly used for cleaning; they have long been made from lye and fat. Detergents are entirely synthetic and may or may not be soaps. Soaps of metals heavier than sodium are not very soluble; the curdy precipitate made by soap in hard water is the calcium or mag¬ nesium salt of the fatty acid in the soap. Heavy-metal soaps are used in lubricating greases, as gel thickeners, and in paints. Napalm is an alumi¬ num soap.
soap opera Broadcast serial drama, characterized by a permanent cast of actors, a continuing story, tangled interpersonal situations, and a melo¬ dramatic or sentimental style. Its name derived from the soap and deter¬ gent manufacturers who originally often sponsored such programs on radio. Soap operas began in the early 1930s as 15-minute radio episodes and continued on television from the early 1950s as 30-minute and later hour-long episodes. Usually broadcast during the day and aimed at house¬ wives, they initially focused on middle-class family life, but by the 1970s their content had expanded to include a wider variety of characters and situations and a greater degree of sexual explicitness. In the 1980s simi¬ lar series began to be aired in prime-time evening hours (e.g., Dallas and Dynasty). See also Carlton E. Morse; Irna Phillips.
soaring or gliding Sport of flying a glider or sailplane. The craft is towed behind a powered airplane to an altitude of about 2,000 ft (600 m)
and then released. The glider pilot makes use of rising currents of warm air, such as those above a sunlit field, to maintain or gain altitude. Instru¬ ments used include the altimeter, airspeed indicator, compass, and turn- and-bank indicator. National soaring contests, which include events for altitude, speed, distance, and accuracy in returning to a starting point, are held annually.